Hello everyone, I'm back with my second Golly fanfic! This one will be very different from Rigor Samsa. Basically a detective story with some romance and a splash of supernatural. I got to warn you that this story will have some violent description of crimes. I'll include whatever trigger warnings necessary for each chapter. Enjoy and please leave a review!

TW: Violent description in the beginning of the chapter.

A smoky fog rolls out of Gail's mouth and her body shivers from the freezing air blowing against her bare legs. The stilettos crush the grey snowy mush on the sidewalk as she walks toward the unknown destination. Her left hand reaches up to pulls the strap in comfortable position on her shoulder. She walks by a streetlight and her heartbeat increases as she leaves the safety of the light. Her eyes scan around and spot no sign of life anywhere on the street. She can feel herself taking a deep breath and increasing her pace.

"Two blocks to go. You'll be home in no time. You can do this, Julie," Gail hears herself whispering.

She walks by a dark and narrow alley between a closed convenience store and apartment complex. A breath of relief goes out of her mouth as she sees the entrance door for the apartment building. A gloved hand covers her mouth and an arm wraps around her chest. She gets pulled back in the dreary alley and tossed aside by a filthy dumpster. Her legs begins to kick aimlessly and the intruder grabs her legs without much effort.

A rough voice snarls, "Stop it! Gimme your purse!"

Gail's right hand climbs inside the purse to grab something and pulls it out. It turns out to be a pepper spray. However, the stranger sees it too.

"Oh no, you better not! I'm going to fuck you up!"

Gail feels an extremely sharp pain in her stomach. She looks down to see her white body con dress and notices a fierce red waterfall coming out of her navel and flowing down to the ground. Her head turns dizzy and her life energy begins to fade away. She looks up at the stranger and Gail memorizes his appearance.

Dark brown hair. Fat mustache. Prominent nose. Cold brown eyes. Pale skin with signs of drug abuse. Thick fake leather jacket with a few tears. Dirty jeans. Worn tan construction boots.

"Stupid bitch. If you would just cooperate, I wouldn't have to kill you."

He digs in the purse and pulls out a wallet. He peeks inside and grabs out couple bills. He counts and becomes upset when he realizes he only gets couple dollars and a ten dollar bill. He throws the purse at Gail and begins to scream at her.

"Only twelve dollars? I had to kill you for what?! Fuck!"

He begins to kick Gail's waist several times before walking away in the darkness.

Gail's vision slowly fades away and she can feel tears coming out of her eyes.

Gail bolts up from a lying position on her bed. She takes several deep and quick breathes as she looks around. She is in her bedroom. Not in the alley. The glacial death's grasp recedes from all over her body. Her hand presses against her stomach where she could still feel the piercing pain of being stabbed.

Gail drags her legs over the edge of her bed and she covers her face with her hands. She sighs to herself. This still happens to her every time and she has been doing this for years. It doesn't matter how often she experiences those dreams, it still gets to her every single time.

Dark brown hair. Fat mustache. Prominent nose. Cold brown eyes. Pale skin with signs of drug abuse. Thick fake leather jacket with few tears. Dirty jeans. Worn tan construction boots.

Gail looks over at her tablet lying on the nightstand by her bed and picks it up. She opens an encrypted journal and begins to record her death dream precisely. A tremor of chill crawls up her back as she recalls the terrifying feelings the victim experienced while being murdered. And for what? Just twelve bucks? She shakes her head in disgust.

After she completes the latest journal entry, she puts the tablet back on the nightstand and unplugs her cellphone from the charger. She dials a very familiar number from memory.

"Gail," a professional toned voice speaks.

"Mother, it's done. It's him just as we suspected. All the information is recorded and ready for your review."

"Good work, Gail. Now, that means you are officially released from the 8th Division and assigned to the 15th Division tomorrow. Remember whom you represent. Work hard. Don't screw up. Get some rest and we will talk more tomorrow," Elaine Peck explicitly orders.

"Yes, Mother."

Gail's last words fail to get through the phone because Elaine disconnects the call without waiting for her response. Gail grimaces in frustration and tosses her cellphone across the nightstand. She falls back on the bed and stares at the ceiling above.

Gail knows it is impossible to even attempt going back to sleep. Too much adrenaline flowing through her veins. Alcohol. That's exactly what she needs right now. She gets off the bed, picks up some jeans lying on the floor, and put them on. She grabs a random Pearl Jam t-shirt from the dresser and drags it over her chest. She knows very well she always look badass in alternative band t-shirts and jeans with combat boots.

Gail steps in the bathroom and stands by the sink with the mirror facing her. She stares at herself in the mirror. Her eyes scan along her mirrored face. Heavy bags hanging from her eyes. Full of burden dragging her eyes down. She absolutely hates being a Feyian. Her mother always tells her how fortunate she is for being born into the Pecks, the noble family within the Riordan clan, full of honor. She scoffs to herself. More like full of curses.

Tonight, she will have her fun. She knows it's going to be her last chance of letting loose before starting her new assignment tomorrow. Tonight, she will be just Gail, a 28 year old single and sexy woman, looking for some fun. She twists the hot and cold handles and the water starts running out of the faucet. She splashes her face with the water and shakes the self-deprecation off.

"Tequila. Double."

Alex, the owner of the bar, hence the name, turns around and nods at Gail. Then pours a tall shot glass full of the golden liquid.

"Here you go. Open tab?"

Gail quickly swallows the tequila and shudders a little from the burn spreading down her throat. She taps on the counter for another shot.

"Rough night?"

Gail wordlessly scowls and inhales the second shot. She takes a peek at her surroundings. The bar is not in the best shape, but it is full of people of all kinds. Alex's is not the most famous queer bar, but it is Gail's favorite. The fact that she already know Alex from their high school days may have a little to do with her preference. The best thing about Alex's is that everyone is welcome regardless of their background as long as there's respect being given. Not only that, there is a huge space upstairs that is reserved for customers who need place to sleep and Alex takes 15% from the tip jar for the costs of providing safe space for those who need it.

"Couldn't sleep, so I figured I might as well get myself some help from Jose," Gail quips.

Alex smirks, "Cuervo? He's not bad, but I got something even better stored just for you."

Gail raises her eyebrows, "Oh yeah?"

Alex chuckles and bends down to grab a bottle from the bottom cabinet full of various liquor bottles. Then performs a short salsa dance before putting down the bottle in front of Gail. "Here you go, a bottle of mezcal with a yummy worm inside."

Gail makes a disgusted face, "Worm? Isn't that the stuff you eat to cause yourself to hallucinate?"

A short fit of laughter vibrates into Gail's ear from her left, so she looks over at this olive-skinned woman with wavy dark brunette hair. Her warm chocolate eyes connect with Gail's piercing blue eyes. Her lopsided smile unnerves Gail, so she attempts to unnerve her back by staying silent and staring.

"The worm has no psychedelic properties. It won't do anything except maybe gross you out with its taste. The myth was mostly a marketing scheme in 1940's to attract more purchasing of American brands. People often mistake those for tequila, when mezcal is really a variation of alcohol made from the blue agave plants among other type of plants. People also confuse the term mezcal with mescaline, a powerful drug with strong psychedelic properties…"

Gail interrupts, "Why are you saying so many words?"

The dark haired woman opens her mouth but cannot come up with a witty remark, so she simply laughs.

Alex motions to the bottle in hand, "Still up for it? You gals can split the worm like the dog couple in Lady and The Tramp."

Gail has this mortified face, while the brunette laughs out loud.

"Pretty sure I need to have several more shots in me before I would give that a consideration."

Gail nods in agreement, "Well, how about it? Pour us double."

"Oh God, I can't believe you just convinced me to do this with you!"

Gail has this smug expression on her face as Alex pours the worm out of the bottle into a shot glass. They have been taking shots together and chatting about frivolous topics for several hours. During the time Gail has been feeling almost normal and the stresses of being a Peck remain hidden in the back of her mind.

Gail shrugs, "Well, I am pretty sure we are buzzed enough to be this dumb, and you're pretty hot so I don't mind."

The brunette laughs and presses her glasses higher up her nose, "Okay. Just to warn you… if this tastes even a little bit disgusting like I suspect it will, I'm spitting it out immediately. I cannot be held responsible for any potential consequences coming out of my action!"

Gail nods, "Noted," and carefully picks up the worm from the shot glass. The worm slips out of Gail's fingers, causing the glasses wearing woman to lean her head on Gail's shoulder full of laughter.

"Shit, the worm is too slippery. Let me try again."

Gail picks up the worm again and places an end between her front teeth. Her partner in question remains standing and trying to contain her laughter miserably. Gail impulsively decides to grab her arm and pull her closer. Their noses bumps briefly and Gail could smell her flowery perfume mixed with the breath of mezcal. She feels lips brushing hers and teeth bumping her, taking a half of the worm. However, the lips remains sticking to Gail's, so she presses back. A rush of warmth spreading from Gail's lips and her brain becomes foggy with desire. Just as Gail is about to open her mouth, forgetting about the deceased worm in her mouth, the brunette moves back abruptly and spits her wormy part onto a napkin in her hand.

"God, that was gross!"

It takes Gail a moment to realizes the situation and shakes herself out of her foggy state. Her slimy half of the worm spread the awful taste all over her tongue, so she spits it out on a napkin too.

"Ugh!"

Gail and her newly attractive… friend(?) stare at each other for a minute before cracking up. A group of people in their early twenties barge in the bar and sluggishly approach the counter. Gail gets pulled by the brunette away from the counter.

Her sweet voice whispers in Gail's ear, "Let's move to somewhere away from the crowd."

For the first time in a long time, Gail is having the time of her life. She's leisurely sitting on a comfy red love seat in a dark corner away from other people in the bar. Her gorgeous companion for the night is fighting the crowd to grab some beers for them. Gail realizes she never bothered to get the stranger's name, but she wonders if she really wants to in first place. She likes the feeling of being purely herself without giving out details of her life outside this place. Having no expectations or judgment is feeling really good right now. Perhaps she can enjoy the night and leave it up to fate or whatever is in control to decide if they will meet again.

"Here."

Gail snaps out of her self-reflection and looks up at the olive-skinned beauty as she takes her seat next to Gail. She takes the beer bottle out of her hand and takes a sip.

"Ahh, I needed that to wash the awful taste out of my mouth."

"Sorry it took me awhile. There's way too many people at the counter. I feel bad for Alex taking care of the orders alone."

Gail makes a face, "Ugh, I hate people."

"Me too. Although I've been trying to do something different and be more sociable these days. I almost didn't come here tonight, but I'm so glad I did…"

Gail smiles, "Me too. Are you finding this strange as I do that we still don't know each other's name?"

"Well, do you want to know mine?"

"Not yet. I'm liking this. No expectations. No judgement. Just two hot ladies enjoying each other."

"Normally I don't do this, but do you want to get out of here?"

Gail stares at her lovely company smiling shyly at her. She really wants to. Desperately. But she can't. She can't risk ruining this with her complicated life situation and let alone even consider possibly sleeping in the bed and potentially scaring her with her dreams. She mentally freezes her warm beating heart.

"Okay, but I only fuck and leave. I don't do cuddling and sleeping together."

The woman blinks and her smile disappears. "What?"

"You heard me. Usually when one says wanna get out of here? That's a signal for sex. I'm telling you I would be up for a fuck, but don't expect anything else than that."

The brunette slowly nods and looks down at her hands. She sighs and puts her beer down on a coffee table in the front of them and gets up.

"Well, I think I'm going to go. I thought there was something genuine between us, but I must've misunderstood you. Enjoy rest of your beer on me and have a good night. I'm sure you can find someone else to satisfy your need for fucking."

Gail wants so badly to correct her and admits that she feels something too. However, she knows she has to let this one go. She never allows herself to get in anything potentially serious with a normal human being. Feyians don't have any type of intimate relationships with mere humans. She can hear her mother lecturing in her head about avoiding any type of relationship with humans except at professional level. She cannot afford being found out. She has this duty to protect her people. The world is a cruel place and she knows what will happen if people find out about the existence of Feyians.

A crack forms inside her heart as Gail watches this one walk away.